Seaford Girls Lacrosse Advances With 19-11 Win

It’s been less than two weeks since the Seaford girls lacrosse team took on and lost to Floral Park in a triple overtime marathon that saw the Lady Knights’ Julia Schmidt tear into them for seven goals.

This time around, facing Floral Park in the first round of Nassau County Class C playoff action, coach Kurt Dankenbrink and the Lady Vikings had a surprise for their opponents.

“We kept one defender on Schmidt the whole time,” said Dankenbrink. “We figured, let someone else score on us.“

The result was early transition opportunities for Floral Park, which jumped out to a 4-2 lead 10 minutes into it -- but over the course of the game, only two goals for Schmidt.

Bottom line? “It was a risk/reward situation,“ said Dankenbrink. “It took our best player out, defending her, but it worked.“

And then some. The Lady Vikings scored six goals against only two for Floral Park to go into the half up 8-6, and then blew out their rivals with eleven goals in the second half to advance in playoff competition with a convincing 19-11 win.

The victory came as Seaford goalie Diana Rice (12 saves) held her ground against a persistent Floral Park offense, and an increasingly confident Lady Vikings midfield game dominated draws and ground ball situations to control the tempo of the game.

“It was a matter of effort,” said coach Dankenbrink. “We wanted it more.”

The first half rally which turned the game around was paced by Emily Schmitt, who knocked home two goals at the 6:59 and 2:19 mark. Meaghan Curley and Jennifer Molnar also scored, and Amelia Taylor slammed one home with 16.5 seconds on the clock when she picked up a loose ball near the goal mouth for an easy score.

Seaford’s scoring was paced by freshman Schaitt, who had six goals on the day. Senior Casey Palmer played well from end to end, and contributed four goals. Freshman Jennifer Molnar had three goals early and was dominating in the first half; juniors Amelia Taylor and Meaghan Curley chipped in two apiece; and junior Carolyn LoStrappo netted one when the Lady Vikings disrupted the Lady Knights’ attempts to clear the ball midway through the second.

Of particular note was the lasar-like passing of Taylor, who contributed two assists on the day with the precision of an NBA point guard.

But the win, noted Dankenbrink, was a team accomplishment. “Our goalie came up big,” he said after the game. “And we combined the young legs of our freshman, like Molnar, and senior experience of players like Palmer. Everyone contributed.”

Seaford moves on to face second-seeded North Shore on Tuesday. The opening draw is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Denton Field in New Hyde Park.